


Strong as Faith

by aurora_borealis



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-06
Updated: 2013-04-06
Packaged: 2017-12-07 14:51:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/749760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurora_borealis/pseuds/aurora_borealis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Selyse found her faith, her red and burning soul, when she found Melisandre's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strong as Faith

She said her name. The people in this world feared her as "the Red Woman," hated her, saw her as a witch and a demon worshiper who aimed to overpower the king and destroy the Seven Kingdoms with her shadows and flames and sacrifices.

Sacrifices, though. All this time Selyse thought she'd been doing just that, but she'd only been settling, she'd only been denied. Now, she knew sacrifice, now she knew fulfillment.

(The first time they'd met, Melisandre had asked Selyse to speak with her alone. She'd taken her hand and looked at her deeply, as if she knew her mind, as if she saw something powerful in there. Something that could fight for a kingdom.)

She'd called her Queen Selyse and told her everything she said she could tell- for even a Red Priestess must have secrets, a holy woman cannot let all her knowledge out on a first meeting, there are some things between only a woman and her god- about the Red God. The more she learned, Selyse decided that this Red God, from across the sea, from the shadows, was the true god, the one who had waited so long to come to the Seven Kingdoms. The one who sent the woman who saw her for who she could be, not for who she seemed to be.

"Now, Queen Selyse," Melisandre's voice had rung with the deep, burning roll of her accent. "Can you do this? For the world...your kingdom. Yourself?"

Her eyes had widened. "Yes," she breathed, hardly noticing until it had happened that she was grasping Melisandre's hand back. "I will go to the light."  
.  
She read ancient texts, sang by fires, learned prayers in the language of Asshai, wore red. She showed her daughter the light, so that one day, when she and her husband were away from the sins of this earth, she could be a bright and holy queen.

She let Melisandre into her life, into every part of it, because before she'd been so alone. Selyse was not needy, but she had lacked companionship. Even her husband...he was a solitary man as she had been a solitary woman; before she had found out she was red she had been as gray as he had been, and it only caused them to have greater distance between each other. Now, when they were joined, they were joined by faith- stronger than binds of marriage.

Yes, she thought from Melisandre's bed, red sheets and wood and words, the red hair of her priestess warm as fire against her body, cleansing her, awakening her, knowing her as no one had ever tried to know her, would ever know her. Yes, she thought at the fires, when the sinners burned or the people prayed. Yes, she thought, looking over the Wall with Melisandre at her side. Faith was love and justice and power and reverence, faith was a great fire and a ruthless fox and a blazing ruby, faith was her and Melisandre, not of House Florent and Asshai but of the whole world that would be led by the red light, and her whole world that she had found.

The men say she is cold and Melisandre is godless, but they know each other- burning and holy and great.


End file.
